State Seeks to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Birth Certificates
*This is a follow-up to the story about the 17 Texas families that are suing the State of Texas for denying their children’s birth certificates. They say their 14th amendment rights were violated. The State of Texas claims the parents don’t have their own proper documentation. And now the state Attorney General claims Texas has sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and can’t be sued. It seems to come down to dueling interpretations of the 14th and 11th Amendments. VL
By Julián Aguilar, The Texas Tribune
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday asked a federal district judge to dismiss a lawsuit that claims a state agency violated the U.S. Constitution by denying birth certificates to U.S.-citizen children of immigrant parents.
[pullquote]The families also claim the state is improperly enforcing immigration laws, a responsibility belonging to the federal government.[/pullquote]Attorneys with Paxton’s office said that the Texas Department of State Health Services, which is being sued by 17 families living in Cameron, Hidalgo and Starr counties, has sovereign immunity under the 11th Amendment and cannot be sued in federal court because it has not waived that right, according to court documents.
The immunity extends to interim DSHS Commissioner Kirk Cole and State Registrar Geraldine Harris, who are also named as defendants in the suit, Paxton’s office argues.
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[Photo courtesy of The Texas Tribune]
